Chinese Balloons a Practice Run for EMP Attack?

Years ago we blogged about Electro Magnetic Pulse (EMP) attacks.  They happen when an atomic bomb is exploded high in the ski above a city.  The explosion doesn't kill anyone.  The atomic waves coming off the explosion knock out all electrical systems for dozens of miles in all directions.  Can a person even imagine what NYC would look like if the electricity went out for 6 weeks...or 6 months??   You are talking total anarchy, total looting, total starvation and a total mess.

I have no idea if the Chinese balloons allowed to float over the USA were really a huge deal or not?  What if those balloons had an atomic weapon and they were silently floating in onshore over San Francisco or NYC?  How about exploding a nuke over St Louis and knocking out electricity in surrounding states??

A commentary at the Washington Examiner is warning that a Chinese spy balloon being watched as it crosses the United States could be a "dry run" for an EMP attack.

An electromagnetic pulse attack would be triggered by a nuclear explosion at altitude. It would disrupt electronics in a massive region, and earlier warnings have said that it could take down America's grid, destroy basic functions like banking and deliveries, and ultimately kill millions.

The latest warning is contained in Paul Bedard's Washington Secrets column.

"High-altitude balloons, such as the one China has floated over mountain state military bases this week, are considered a key 'delivery platform' for secret nuclear strikes on America's electric grid, according to intelligence officials," he reported.

"Spy balloons, used by Japan to drop bombs during World War II, are now far more sophisticated, can fly at up to 200,000 feet, evade detection, and can carry a small nuclear bomb that, if exploded in the atmosphere, would shut down the grid and wipe out electronics in a many-state-wide area."

WND has reported on the threat from EMP for years, as the nation has no effective barrier to such attacks. And even small rogue nations or terror groups that could capture a nuke could launch such an attack.

A congressional EMP commission and the military have delivered such warnings over the years, too.

Bedard said a 2015 report for the American Leadership & Policy Foundation included advice from Air Force Maj. David Stuckenberg, a leading EMP expert, about the situation, and the threat to national security from EMPs.

"Using a balloon as a WMD/WME platform could provide adversaries with a pallet of altitudes and payload options with which to maximize offensive effects against the U.S.," he said at the time. "A high altitude balloon could be designed, created, and launched in a matter of months. There is nothing to prevent several hundred pounds of weapons material from being delivered to altitude."

Today, in light of the Chinese balloon's presence, Bedard reported, he said, "China's recent balloon flyover of the United States is clearly a provocative and aggressive act. It was most likely a type of dry run meant to send a strategic message to the USA. We must not take this for granted."

He noted during World War II Japan had an effort that targeted North American with balloon bombs.

WND reported only last year there was new evidence the rogue Islamic regime in Iran was preparing for such an attack by hardening its "critical infrastructure" in preparation for a military response from the United States.

In an electromagnetic-pulse, or EMP, attack, a small nuclear weapon delivered on a satellite is exploded at high altitude, resulting in a burst of electromagnetic energy that could cause a nationwide blackout of the electric power grid. The shutdown of critical infrastructure reliant on the grid, which could last as long as a year, would affect communications, transportation, food and water supply, and sanitation.

While nuclear experts believe Iran does not have the capacity to strike the U.S. with a traditional nuclear-tipped missile, its intent to carry out an EMP attack "may be reflected in their efforts to protect at least some of their critical infrastructures," according to a report by Pry, the executive director of the EMP Task Force on National and Homeland Security.

Pry's report then, titled "IRAN: EMP THREAT The Islamic Republic of Iran's Military Doctrine, Plans, and Capabilities for Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack," noted anofficial Iranian military textbook endorses EMP attacks against the U.S.

A year ago, Pry co-authored a column in The Hill warning that the Ukraine war could devolve into an "EMP apocalypse" for America.

Pry and co-author D. Brian Hay, president of the Canadian security think tank Mackenzie Institute, said a missile-delivered EMP "of sufficient size, exploded high above St. Louis, for example, could basically fry the electricity systems of the United States and those of the main populated parts of Canada and northern Mexico."

"The resulting social catastrophe of such a doomsday scenario would forcibly preoccupy national, state and local authorities with their own internal problems," they wrote.

"Imagine most of the United States with no electricity, no ATMs, few working vehicles, few functioning hospitals, no delivery of prescription medicines, or food or fresh water or sewage treatment," they wrote "Most of the U.S. population could be reduced to a lifestyle like that of the 1800s. EMP Commission estimates project a death toll of 90 percent of the population within one year, were something of this nature to happen. Remaining authorities would be overwhelmed by civil unrest decimating the dwindling population as they fought for their survival."

The threat could come, they warned, from many sources, including North Korea and China as well as Russia and Iran.

Here;  Is Chinese Balloon 'Dry Run' For EMP Attack? (prophecynewswatch.com)

A person can't even imagine America put back into the stone age by a lack of electricity.  Just imagine how incapable 99.99% of us would be if there were no stores, no phones, no computers, no cars?

Would Iran really do such a thing?  How about North Korea or China?

The world is filled with bad actors.  The folks who scream "allah akbar!" while blowing themselves up wouldn't hesitate to destroy the Great Satan. (USA)  China has wanted to be king of the hill for quite a while now. North Korea's leader claims he is a god and demands worship from his people.  He would LOVE to destroy America and let all the folks eat each other alive.